Tobacco ripping and classifying apparatus



March 11, 1958 o. E. EISSMANN TOBACCO RIPPING AND CLASSIFYING APPARATUSFiled Dec. 29, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNVENTOR OSWALD ERICH EISSMANNATTORNEY TOBACCO, RIPPING AND CLASSIFYING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 29, 19513 Sheets-Sheet 5 ENJENTOR O$WALD EFHGH EISSMANN L \9 b" 2 ATTORNEYTOBACCO RIPPING AND CLASSIFYING APPARATUS Oswald Erich Eissmann,Richmond, Va, assignor to American Machine & Foundry Company, acorporation of New Jersey Application December 29, 1951, Serial No.264,260

14 Claims. (Cl. 131--146) This invention relates to tobacco ripping andclassifying apparatus.

Tobacco ripping and classifying machines in use today for ripping andclassifying tobacco leaves are of such design that they occupy aconsiderable amount of valuable space. Also the machines now employedfor ripping and classifying tobacco in the normal course of operationcause dust to be dispersed into the air which is objectionable not onlyfor reasons of cleanliness but also of health. in addition, such unitsalso employ long conveying belts which not only require space but alsoare costly in and of themselves to acquire and maintain. Classifyingdevices now in use are not readily adaptable for compact arrangement ina tobacco factory. In addition, there is and has been a need for amachine which has a larger capacity than existing machines withoutincreasing but rather decreasing the amount of floor space occupied.

in view of the foregoing, it is an object of this invention to provide atobacco ripping and classifying apparatus which will be of a designwhich will be compact and have a large capacity and still have a highclassifying efiiciency.

Another object of this invention is to provide a tobacco classifyingapparatus of the type which separates dust from the tobacco leaveswherein the air is partially recirculated within the classifyingmachine. 2

A further object of this invention is to provide a machine which isadaptable for being positioned side by side with other similar tobaccoclassifying machines so that a tobacco stream can be carried through themachines discharging a portion of the stream into each of the machinesthrough which it passes.

Another object of this invention is to subject torn tobacco leaves to aplurality of swirling actions to effect a separation of leaves from oneanother and to also thereby separate sand and dust from the leaves.

A further object is to provide an improved device for removing apredetermined uniform quantity of tobacco from a moving stream.

Another object of this invention is to provide an automatic tobaccoclassifier with a control which will remove a machine from operationwhen a jam occurs and automatically direct the tobacco being received toother ripping and classifying machines.

Another object is to provide an improved method for feeding tobacco inbetween a spiked drum and concave to obtain a more effective removal ofleaf lamina from stems on one pass.

Another object is to provide an improved method for controlling the airflow in a tobacco separating apparatus.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear as thedescription of the particular physical embodiment selected to illustratethe invention progresses. In the accompanying drawings, which form apart of this specification, like characters of reference have beenapplied to corresponding parts throughout the several views which makeupthe drawings.

Figure l is a sectional side elevation of the improved States Patenttobacco stemmer and separator in conjunction with an automatic tobaccocross-feed.

Figure 2 is a sectional end elevation of the machine taken on line 2-2of Figure 1 illustrating the tobacco feeding mechanism.

Figure 3 is an end elevation of the tobacco feeding mechanism taken online 33 of Figure 2.

With reference to the drawings, the tobacco leaves to be stemmed aredeposited on an inclined endless conveyor belt 10 of an automaticcross-feed C designed to feed constantly into the machine apredetermined amount of tobacco leaves. The surplus tobacco not used inthe machine is discharged into the cross-feed of the next machine wherea predetermined amount of said tobacco is again removed and theremaining surplus is discharged into the cross-feed of the nextsucceeding machine.

The inclined feed belt 10 is constantly driven and surrounded by asuitable trough 12 which on the upper end is provided with an opening 14which permits the tobacco leaves conveyed by said belt in the directionof the arrow (Fig. 2) to drop onto a guide plate 16 of deflector hood H.The deflector hood H consists of a pair of spaced semicircular sidewalls 18, the curved edges of which are connected by a curved coverplate 20. Each side wall 18 is supported by bearing rings or sleeves 22which are fulcrurned on the periphery of a pair of bearing housings 24.Both of the bearing housings 24 form the bearing or support of a shaft26 which carries and to which is secured a roller 28. The roller 28supports the upper end of the conveyor belt 10.

The lower end of the conveyor belt 10 is supported by a roller 30mounted on a shaft 32 supported in suitable bearings held by the sidewalls of trough 12. To the hub of one of the side walls 18 of the hood His suitably attached an arm 34 (Fig. 2) which by means of a link 36 isconnected to one end of a double lever 38. In the center portion oflever 38 is pivoted a stud 40 held by one of the side walls of hood H.The other end of double lever 38 is connected to one end of a verticaloperating lever 42. The lower free end of lever 42 carries a handle 44.

One of the side edges of operating lever 42 is provided with a pluralityof teeth 46, one of which, depending on the desired setting, engageswith a pawl 48 pivotally held by a stud 50. The stud 50 is held by abracket 52 secured to the main frame of the machine. Integral with andprojecting from pawl 48 is a trip lever 54, the free end of which isconnected to an extension 56 of the armature of a solenoid 58 secured tothe upper portion of bracket 52. A balance weight 60 projects from thehub of the hood H on the free end of arm 34. This weight 60 causes theguide plate 16, attached to the lower portion of hood H, toautomatically swing upward whenever the pawl 48 is disengaged with oneof the teeth 46 of lever 42. The latter condition would occur wheneverthe solenoid 58 was energized due to a malfunctioning of the machinesuch as might happen if a foreign object was inadvertently delivered tothe tobacco ripping mechanism.

Located below the lower edge of the guide plate 16 is a horizontalcontinuously rotating gate valve 62 into which the tobacco leaves Lconveyed by belt 10 are deposited. Adjacent to the upper opening of saidvalve is mounted another inclined continuously drive conveyor belt 64provided with a pair of side walls 66 which more or less form acontinuation of the side walls of the trough 12 surrounding the upperconveyor belt 19.

As will be readily seen from the illustration in Figure 2, the hood Hcan be set in such a way that the angle of position of guide plate 16which is controlled by the setting of the hood, permits only a portionof the tobacco leaves from the under side of the tobacco stream which isPatented Mar. 11, 1958.

discharged into hood H over the discharge end of conveyor belt 19 todrop into the opening of the gate valve 62. The rest of the leaves inthe tobacco stream fall onto the lower receiving end of the conveyorbelt 64 and are carried away by the same. These surplus leaves are thendeposited into the feed trough 12a of the next machine which is equippedwith a conveyor belt a and a tobacco feed mechanism of similarconstruction to that described above.

The gate valve 62 deposits the tobacco leaves through its lower openingonto a spreading device S which is employed for the purpose of changingthe flow of the conveyed tobacco leaves 90 degrees and spreading thesame uniformly across a wider inclined conveyor belt 70 which travels atright angles to conveyor belt 10 and which conveys said leaves into therevolving thresher 72. The spreading device S consists of two wings orplates 74 and 76 having one side tapered so as to form a triangularshape. This type of spreading is disclosed in the Davidson Patent No.2,785,683.

These plates 74 and 76 have their tapered edges diametrically oppositeto each other and the tapered edges descend in opposite directionsacross the lower opening of gate valve 62. This double vane typespreader has the decided advantage that it requires less height andprovides a shorter conveying distance for the material than is the casewith a single vane type.

The rotating ripper or thresher 72 into which the tobacco leaves aredeposited by the conveyor belt 70 is similar to that shown in my PatentNo. 2,755,930, and works in conjunction with suitably placed and shapedcombs and rakes 78, 80, and 82. The combs and rakes 78, 80 and 82 causethe lamina to be torn from the stem portions of the leaves in the mannerdescribed in said co-pending application.

The torn leaf and stem portions drop through the spaces between serratedbars 84 surrounding said leaf ripper and fall onto a continuously movingconveyor belt 86. I have found that by feeding tobacco at a fast enoughrate in sufficient volume to maintain the space between the stemmingcylinder 72 and the concave 84 filled with tobacco leaves, I get a muchbetter stemming action than was obtained by using prior practices. Ifind this method of feeding tobacco to be so eifective that most leaveshave the lamina and stems completely separated from each other aftermaking only one pass around the cylinder 72. Heretofore it was necesaryto rely a great deal upon reprocessing to completely remove all laminafrom the stems.

Due to the method just described of feeding larger quantities of tobaccoto the tobacco ripping apparatus there is less tobacco returned forretearing. If there is too much air flowing through the machine, I nowrectify this by merely feeding more tobacco. This method of feedingtobacco leaf results in cutting down the amount of air and also resultsin more complete stemming in one pass. Belt 86 hurls the leaf and stempieces towards a wall 88 of housing D and into an air stream enteringthe separating housing at point A. The air stream is created by thesuction and blower system E and designed to carry the torn tobaccothrough the separator housing.

The stem portions which have been stripped clean of leaf laminae, ofcourse, are heavier than the laminae and therefore offer resistance tothe lifting action of the incoming air stream. As a result, the stemsdrop through the opening at point A and onto the stern receiving belt 90which carries said stems out of the machine. A slit 91 is provided inthe wall 93 through which clean stems fall onto the plate 89 down wall88 on top of the stems already discharged on the collecting belt 90. Airentering through slit 91 keeps it free from tobacco leaf lamina. Thepieces of stemless lamina and the lamina still having stems adheringthereto are thrown off the belt 86 and are intercepted by the incomingair stream and are carried upward so that they are deflected by thehorizontal portion 92 of housing D.

H which provide suction for the entire machine.

If the tobacco pieces are very heavy as is the case where a piece oflamina carries a fairly large piece of stem portion, such tobacco pieceis deflected back again into the revolving thresher 72 to bereprocessed.

The lighter tobacco pieces, due to the horizontal position of portion92, are carried by the air stream towards an indented area 94 of housingD. Any piece of lamina which still has some piece of stem adheringthereto will, due to the decreased velocity of the air in this portionof the housing, fall down towards the belt 70 which causes it to bedirected back into the range of action of the revolving ripper 72. Theremaining pieces of lamina which are mostly all free of stems arecarried upward where they undergo a second swirling action.

This second swirling action causes the tobacco to not only lose adheringdust and sand, but the pieces are further separated so that if any ofthe lamina so separated has any stems, they can settle down and bere-ripped a second time. The balance of the tobacco leaves are carriedupwardly through duct 96 into the resettling chamber 98 of the separatorhousing. The lowermost portion of the settling chamber 98 is providedwith a rotary gate valve 100 which discharges the clean lamina onto aconveyor belt 101 which carries the same out of the machine.

The rear chamber 98 is also provided with an inclined perforated plate102 which permits any sand or heavy dust particles to drop through theperforations into a chute 104 leading to a screw conveyor 106 whichcarries said sand out of the machine into a suitable receptacle. Therear portion of said chamber is also provided with a screen 108 throughwhich the dust laden air is exhausted. This screen 108 separates lint,string and feathers from the air stream in this area.

The rear wall of the tobacco separator housing is formed by a dustseparating unit F which consists of a clean air suction shaft 110 and adust collecting chamber 112. Within the suction shaft 110 are mounted aplurality of cyclone type dust separators 114 such as shown anddescribed in Patent No. 2,755,930, referred to above.

Each side of such shaft 110 is connected by a winglike duct 116 to ahorizontal passage 118 on the bottom portion of the machine which leadsto the suction housing 120 in which are mounted a pair of suction fans122 The exhaust ends 124 of both suction fans 122 are connected to anexhaust duct 126 which extends over the entire width on the bottomportion of the machine.

The exhaust duct 126 leads to an exhaust chamber 123 which on each sideof the machine is provided with an opening 130 each of which is providedwith a vertical stack 132. The stack 132 permits the greater portion ofthe clean air to escape back into the room from which it was taken.However the end of exhaust duct 126, as well as the exhaust chamber, areprovided with adjustable valve plates 134 and 136, respectively, bymeans of which part of the clean exhaust air is recirculated into themachine thereby cutting down on the amount of air taken from outside themachine which enables the machine to operate on a smaller amount ofhorsepower.

With proper setting of one or both of said valve plates, the air streamis directed between the lower portion of conveyor 86 and the upperportion of conveyor 90 and re-enters the machine at point A where saidexhaust air stream is met by the air stream coming from the outside ofthe machine.

In order to avoid a certain turbulence at the forward portion ofconveyor 86, another adjustable gate plate 138 is provided at the rearof conveyor 86. This plate 138 can be set in such a manner to allow justenough of the exhaust air stream to pass over the top of conveyor 86 toovercome the turbulence at the forward edge of said conveyor. Gateplates 134, 136, and 138 are provided with suitable handles 140, 142 and144, respectively, which are located on the outer wall of the machineand which may be set by the operator to the desired opening. a

In order to provide the dust filter tubes 114 with an adequate volume ofair to maintain their efficiency, the top side of the separator housingis provided with a hinged gate plate 146 to permit additional air toenter at this point. The amount of air permitted to enter may becontrolled by a suitable handle 148 which, through a lever 150 and a rod152, is connected to said gate plate 146.

The bottom portion of the dust collecting chamber 112 is provided with asuitable screw conveyor 154 which carries the dust from this chamber tothe outside and deposits the same in a suitable receptacle. A trough 156and screw conveyor 15%; is provided for removing any dust particleswhich pass through the screen 198 and do not reach the separation 114but settle downwardly along Wall 109.

In case of any choking action within the machine or if any foreignobject such as wood, nails or a screw driver has inadvertently reachedthe interior of the machine, there is provided according to thisinvention an automatic control means for stopping the flow of tobaccoleaves L fed into the machine by means of feed conveyor 1d. The solenoid58, which controls the engagement of pawl 43 with teeth 46 of operatinglever 42 and consequently the position of guide plate 16 of hood 1 5 isconnected to the motor control box (not shown) in such a manner that ifone of the motors driving the various components of the machine isoverloaded, it will shut down all other motors and simultaneously engagethe,

solenoid 58. t

When this occurs, the solenoid 58 causes a disengagement of pawl 48 fromteeth 46 of the operating lever 42. The action of the balance weight 60upon hood H causes the latter to swing upward and thereby bring plate 16in such a position as to prevent any of the leaves from dropping intothe rotating gate valve 62 of the machine. This results in the entirestream of tobacco being directed onto the conveyor belt 64 which, sincethe entire cross-feed unit C is independently driven, will continue tosupply the adjacent machine or machines with tobacco leaves.

To facilitate proper resetting of the 'hood and plate 16 after theobstruction in the machine has been cleared, one side edge of theoperating lever 42 is provided with stop lug 154 which, when engagingwith a stop knob 156, will prevent further downward movement of lever 42and consequently of hood H and plate lid. The knob 156 is adjustablymounted in a vertical slot 158 of bracket 52 and thus limits thelowermost position of hood H. The upward movements of rod 42 and hood His limited by the handle 44 striking the bearing lug lot At thisposition the hood H is tilted upward to an extent that all tobaccoreceived from the conveyor belt lit) is delivered to conveyor belt 64thus preventing any tobacco from dropping into the gate valve 62.

The invention hereinbefore described may be varied in constructionwithin the scope of the claims, for the particular device selected toillustrate the invention is but one of many possible embodiments of thesame. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted to the precisedetails of the structure shown and described.

What is claimed is:

1. In a tobacco classifying machine, an infeed delivery belt deliveringtobacco to be classified into the middle portion of the machine,inclined tobacco spreader slides for spreading said tobacco transverselyacross the width of the tobacco classifier, a rotating pronged tobaccoripper positioned on one side of said in feed conveyor for ripping thelamina from the stems of said tobacco leaves, a tobacco settling chamberpositioned on the other side of said infeed conveyor, a separatingchamber formed adjacent said tobacco ripper, a duct interconnecting saidseparating chamber and said settling chamber, and a source of suctionfor drawing a stream of air past said ripper through said separatingchamber, duct and settling chamber to efiect a classification of torntobacco leaves.-

-2. A tobacco ripping and classifying apparatus comprising, a tobaccotearing drum mounted at one end of the apparatus, ,a settling chamberformed in the other end of said apparatus, an infeed belt tor deliveringtobacco to be torn at right angles to an area in said apparatus betweenthe tobacco tearing drum and said settling chamber, inclined spreadersurfaces positioned under said infeed belt to spread the tobacco soreceived across the width of the apparatus prior to the delivery of saidtobacco to said ripping drum, a preliminary separating device associatedwith said tobacco ripping drum to separate clean stems from stemlesslamina, a connecting duct interconnecting the upper end of saidpreliminary separating device with the upper end of said settlingchamber, an exhaust fan for pneumatically moving lamina from saidpreliminary separating device into said settling chamber, and a sourceof suction for removingair from said settling chamber and conveying itback under the machine to the air intake side of the tobacco classifyingapparatus.

3. A feed for a tobacco ripping and classifying machine comprising, aninfeed conveyor belt for carrying tobacco thereon to the discharge endof said belt, a second outfeed conveyor belt having the receiving end ofsaid second belt positioned at a lower elevation than the discharge endof said first named conveyor belt to receive tobacco therefrom, aswingably mounted chute for receiving tobacco from the discharge end ofsaid first named conveyor belt and directing the tobacco so receivedtowards the receiving end of said second outfeed belt, and means forsetting the angle of said chute to regulate the amount of tobaccofalling from the first named conveyor belt onto the second namedconveyor belt to allow a predetermined quantity of tobacco to fall pastsaid second named conveyor belt into the tobacco ripping and classifyingmachine.

4. The method of feeding tobacco intoa tobacco ripping and classifyingmachine comprising, feeding a stream of tobacco in excess of thatrequired by a machine, employing a deflecting device for trimming off auniform sheet of tobacco from the underside of said stream anddischarging the tobacco so removed into the tobacco ripping andclassifying machine, and discharging the balance of .said tobacco streamonto the infeed conveyor of an adjoining tobacco ripping and classifyingmachine.

5. A tobacco leaf ripping and classifying machine comprising, a tobaccoripping and stem removing device mounted in one end of the machine, asettling chamber mounted in the other end of the machine for removingtobacco leaf lamina from an air stream, an air passagewayinterconnecting said ripping device with said air settling chamber, adischarge device forming a part of said settling chamber for removingtobacco leaf lamina therefrom, an infeed conveyor for delivering tobaccoleaves to be ripped into the side of the machine in the area locatedbetween said tobacco leaf ripper and said settling chamber across thewidth of said machine, a conveying device for directing tobacco leavesreceived from said infeed conveyor into the range of action of saidtobacco ripping device, and means for moving a stream of air past saidripping device through said air passageway and said settling chamber.

6. A tobacco ripping and classifying apparatus comprising, a tobaccoripper, a separating chamber positioned adjacent to the tobacco ripperfor removing stems from the torn leafreceived from said ripper, saidseparating chamber having a slit slightly wider than the thickness oftobacco stems extending across the width of said chamber above saidripper, and upwardly extending lip positioned a short distance inside ofsaid separating chamher under and along said slit for removing any stemsfalling downwardly along a wall of said separating chamb s t n chamber,o reniqvi sl a om said '7 air stream, a duct interconnecting saidseparating chamber with said settling chamber, a source of suction formoving a stream of air past said ripper and through said separating andsettling chambers, an infeed belt delivering tobacco into the side ofsaid separating apparatus into the area located between said tobaccoripper and said settling chamber, and a tobacco spreading device fordepositing said tobacco evenly across the width of said apparatus priorto its delivery to said ripper.

7. A machine for separating tobacco leaf lamina from stems andclassifying the same after separation comprising, an elongated housing,a tobacco leaf ripper located at one end of said housing, a settlingchamber located at the other end of said housing to remove tobacco leaflamina from an air stream, a separating chamber connected with saidtobacco leaf ripper for separating stems from torn tobacco leaf lamina,an air passageway interconnecting said separating chamber with saidsettling chamber, a device for causing a stream of air to move past saidtobacco leaf ripper and through said tobacco ripper and said settlingchamber, and a conveying device for carrying said tobacco so deliveredinto the range of action of said tobacco ripper.

8. A tobacco ripping and separating device comprising, a spiked rippingroller, a concave spaced from and surrounding the lower portion of saidspiked roller, 'an infeed conveyor belt for delivering a continuousstream of tobacco from the center of said device to one side of saidconcave into the space between said concave and said spiked roller, aseparating shaftway arranged on the other side of said roller andconcave, means for moving a stream of air upwardly in said shaftway toelevate lamina as well as lamina having stems attached thereto whileallowing cleanstems to separate out of the air stream, a deflecting wallpositioned across the upper end of said shaftway and extending partiallyover the ripping roller to deflect lamina having stems attached theretoback into the range of action of the ripping roller, and a second,shaftway connecting with the first shaftway, said second shaftwayhaving the wall positioned most distant from the deflecting wall formedwith an indented pocket toward which the tobacco laden stream isdeflected by said deflecting wall, said pocket being arranged to renderthe individual leaves having stems adhering thereto in said air streammomentarily immobile so that any lamina still having stems attachedthereto are given an opportunity to fall downwardly to be mixed with theincoming stream of tobacco for re-ripping.

9. A tobacco ripping and separating device comprising, a spiked rippingroller, a concave spaced from and surrounding the lower portion of saidspiked roller, an infeed conveyor belt for delivering a continuousstream of tobacco from the center of said device to one side of saidconcave into the space between said concave and said spiked roller, aseparating shaftway arranged on the other side of said roller andconcave, means for moving a stream of air upwardly in said shaftway toelevate lamina as well as lamina having stems attached thereto whileallowing clean stems to separate out of the air stream, a deflectingwall positioned across the upper end of said shaftway and extendingpartially over the ripping roller to deflect lamina having stemsattached thereto back into the range of action of the ripping roller, asecond shaftway connecting with the first shaftway, said second shaftwayhaving the wall positioned most distant from the deflecting wall formedwith an indented pocket toward which the tobacco laden stream isdeflected by said deflecting wall, said pocket being arranged to renderleaves in said air stream still having stems attached to the laminamomentarily immobile so that they are given an opportunity to falldownwardly to be mixed with the incoming stream of tobacco forre-ripping, and a second separating chamber positioned above the wallhaving the indented pocket to cause a further separation to be effectedso as to separate entangled leaves to allow any lamina. still havingstems to settle downwardly into the range of action of said spikedroller for reprocessing.

10. A tobacco classifying and ripping apparatus comprising, a separatingduct having a vertical cross-section which forms substantially an S incross-sectional shape, a spiked roller mounted in the bottom portion ofthe shaped curve, an infeed conveyor for delivering tobacco from thecenter portion of said apparatus to the S shaped curved wall so as todeliver the tobacco into the range of action of said spiked roller,means for rotating said spiked roller so as to discharge said rippedtobacco into the lower end of said 3 shaped curve so as to effect aseparation of clean stems from the balance of the ripped tobacco, theupper curved protion of the S shaped path of travel having a contourwhich causes incompletely stemmed tobacco leaves to be deflected backinto the range of action of the ripping roller, means for pulling astream of air upwardly through the channel where stems are separatedfrom the tobacco leaf lamina so as to drive all of the tobacco soseparated from along one side of said 8 shaped curve to the oppositeside of said 8 shaped curve so as to slow down the momentum of theleaves traveling in the air stream at a point formed in the bend of saidS-shaped curve above the intake side of the tobacco ripper to permitincompletely torn leaves to drop into the range of action of saidtobacco ripper, and a source of suction for moving said tobacco ladenair stream to the upper bend of said 8 shaped curve to effect a furtherseparation of lamina having stems adhering thereto to allow said laminato fall downwardly for reprocessing by the tobacco ripper.

11. In a tobacco separating and classifying machine, an elongatedhousing, a tobacco ripping device mounted across one end of saidhousing, a settling chamber positioned across the other end of saidhousing, a separating chamber arranged above said tobacco ripping devicefor separating torn tobacco leaf lamina from lamina free stems, apassagewy interconnecting the upper ends of said separating and settlingchambers, a source of power for moving an air stream past said tobaccoripper and through said separating chamber and interconnecting airpassageway into said settling chamber, and an infeed conveyor fordelivering tobacco transversely to the side of said housing at an arealocated in between said separating chamber across the width of saidmachine and said settling chamber.

12. In a tobacco separating and classifying machine, an elongatedhousing, a tobacco ripping device mounted across one end of saidhousing, a settling chamber positioned across the other end of saidhousing, a separating chamber arranged above said tobacco ripping devicefor separating torn tobacco leaf lamina from lamina free stems, apassageway interconnecting the upper ends of said separating andsettling chambers, a source of power for moving an air stream past saidtobacco ripper and through said separating chamber and interconnectingair passageway into said settling chamber, an infeed conveyor fordelivering tobacco at right angles to the side of said housing into thearea located between said separating and settling chambers, an outfeedconveyor for receiving surplus tobacco from said infeed conveyor andremoving it out of said machine at an angle transverse to the length ofsaid housing, and means for continuously removing a portion of thetobacco from said infeed conveyor as the tobacco passes from oneconveyor to the other and delivering the tobacco so removed to saidtobacco ripping device.

13. A tobacco ripping and classifying machine comprising, a tobaccoripper extending transversely across one end of said housing, a tobaccoleaf lamina settling chamber extending across the other end of saidhousing, a separating chamber associated with and extending above saidtobacco leaf ripper to separate tobacco leaf lamina from lamina freestems, an air passageway interconnecting the upper end of saidseparating chamber with said settling chamber, an infeed conveyor fordelivering tobacco leaves at right angles to said housing in the arealocated between said settling and separating chambers, an outfeedconveyor extending transversely from the opposite side of said housingfor removing untorn tobacco leaf from said housing into the nextadjoining tobacco ripping and classifying machine, a tobacco guidepositioned under the discharge end of said infeed conveyor for receivingtobacco delivered into the center portion of said tobacco ripping andclassifying machine from said infeed conveyor to control the proportionof tobacco delivered to said infeed belt and said outfeed belt, and adirection turning device and spreading device for spreading tobaccodelivered from said infeed belt into said machine across the widththereof.

14. A tobacco leaf ripping and classifying machine comprising, anelongated housing, a tobacco leaf ripping member mounted near the bottomof one end of said housing, an air shaftway positioned adjacent andabove said ripping device for separating stems from lamina by allowingstems to fall downwardly, a settling chamber positioned at the other endof said housing for removing tobacco leaf lamina from an air stream, aduct interconnecting the upper end of said shaftway with the upper endof said settling chamber through which tobacco leaf lamina is conducted,an infeed belt for delivering tobacco to be torn at right angles to themachine in the area located between said settling chamber and saidseparating shaftway, an outfeed belt for receiving excess untorn tobaccofrom said infeed belt to remove said excess untorn tobacco from saidseparating machine, means for removing part of the amount of tobaccodelivered from said infeed belt into the ripping and classifying machineand for directing the balance of the untorn tobacco received from theinfeed belt of one machine to the outfeed belt which comprises theinfeed belt of an adjoining machine, and a safety device for actuatingsaid means to deliver all tobacco received from the infeed belt to theoutfeed belt whenever the safety device detects a malfunctioning of themachine.

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